Lefty Grove
The most dominant pitcher of his generation threw harder than anyone had seen before, earning his nickname not just for being left-handed but for his blazing fastball that terrorized hitters throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Grove's 300 wins tell only part of the story — his 142 ERA+ over 17 seasons reveals a pitcher who was consistently elite in an era when offense ruled.
That peak ERA+ of 199 represents one of the greatest single-season pitching performances ever recorded. Grove struck out 2,266 batters when strikeouts were rare, averaging nearly six per nine innings when the league norm was half that. His 1931 MVP award came during a 31-4 season that stands as perhaps the finest pitching campaign in American League history.
The numbers explain why Grove entered Cooperstown in 1947, just six years after retirement. In an era of .300 team batting averages and explosive offense, Grove made hitting look impossible.
Career · Hitting
17 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | PHA | 45 | 65 | 0 | 3 | .123 | — | — |
| 1926 | PHA | 45 | 81 | 0 | 6 | .099 | — | — |
| 1927 | PHA | 51 | 80 | 2 | 8 | .125 | — | — |
| 1928 | PHA | 39 | 88 | 1 | 6 | .170 | — | — |
| 1929 | PHA | 42 | 102 | 1 | 15 | .216 | — | — |
| 1930 | PHA | 50 | 110 | 2 | 17 | .200 | — | — |
| 1931 | PHA | 41 | 115 | 0 | 12 | .200 | — | — |
| 1932 | PHA | 44 | 107 | 4 | 12 | .168 | — | — |
| 1933 | PHA | 45 | 105 | 1 | 7 | .086 | — | — |
| 1934 | BOS | 22 | 37 | 1 | 4 | .162 | — | — |
| 1935 | BOS | 35 | 89 | 1 | 5 | .079 | — | — |
| 1936 | BOS | 35 | 80 | 0 | 5 | .138 | — | — |
| 1937 | BOS | 32 | 91 | 0 | 6 | .143 | — | — |
| 1938 | BOS | 24 | 54 | 0 | 8 | .148 | — | — |
| 1939 | BOS | 25 | 67 | 1 | 5 | .134 | — | — |
| 1940 | BOS | 23 | 53 | 1 | 2 | .151 | — | — |
| 1941 | BOS | 21 | 45 | 0 | 0 | .111 | — | — |
| Career | 619 | 1369 | 15 | 121 | .148 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
17 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | PHA | 45 | 197.0 | 10 | 12 | 4.75 | 96 | 116 | 1.716 |
| 1926 | PHA | 45 | 258.0 | 13 | 13 | 2.51 | 164 | 194 | 1.271 |
| 1927 | PHA | 51 | 262.3 | 20 | 13 | 3.19 | 128 | 174 | 1.258 |
| 1928 | PHA | 39 | 261.7 | 24 | 8 | 2.58 | 160 | 183 | 1.116 |
| 1929 | PHA | 42 | 275.3 | 20 | 6 | 2.81 | 164 | 170 | 1.304 |
| 1930 | PHA | 50 | 291.0 | 28 | 5 | 2.54 | 189 | 209 | 1.144 |
| 1931 | PHA | 41 | 288.7 | 31 | 4 | 2.06 | 199 | 175 | 1.077 |
| 1932 | PHA | 44 | 291.7 | 25 | 10 | 2.84 | 145 | 188 | 1.193 |
| 1933 | PHA | 45 | 275.3 | 24 | 8 | 3.20 | 121 | 114 | 1.318 |
| 1934 | BOS | 22 | 109.3 | 8 | 8 | 6.50 | 66 | 43 | 1.655 |
| 1935 | BOS | 35 | 273.0 | 20 | 12 | 2.70 | 161 | 121 | 1.223 |
| 1936 | BOS | 35 | 253.3 | 17 | 12 | 2.81 | 163 | 130 | 1.192 |
| 1937 | BOS | 32 | 262.0 | 17 | 9 | 3.02 | 144 | 153 | 1.344 |
| 1938 | BOS | 24 | 163.7 | 14 | 4 | 3.08 | 141 | 99 | 1.350 |
| 1939 | BOS | 23 | 191.0 | 15 | 4 | 2.54 | 169 | 81 | 1.246 |
| 1940 | BOS | 22 | 153.3 | 7 | 6 | 3.99 | 106 | 62 | 1.363 |
| 1941 | BOS | 21 | 134.0 | 7 | 7 | 4.37 | 90 | 54 | 1.470 |
| Career | 616 | 3940.6 | 300 | 141 | — | — | 2266 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.